Community SCALE is coalition of residents in Raleigh's established neighborhoods who are working together to advocate for the kind of development in our communities that respects the existing built environment, the natural environment, and the history of individual neighborhoods.

Friday, June 30, 2017

Community SCALE wants you to be aware of what’s happened/what’s coming up at City Hall each week.

Please feel free to forward this email. If someone forwarded it to you and you want to be added to our email list, please email communityscale@gmail.com

NOTE: If you are a CAC leader, please add communityscale@gmail.com to your email distribution list so we can help publicize your activities. Also if you’d like us to add your group’s email distribution list to ours, please send it to us.

Week of July 3

Here are some of the events planned for the coming week. It’s always helpful to have community members attend to show interest in these topics, ask questions, etc. If you plan to attend any of these meetings, we’ll be glad to include your meeting summary in future articles.

June 27Hillsborough CAC and Wade CAC joint meeting. Good attendance. Bob Geary reported on his conversations with the mayor about CACs, and seemed cautiously optimistic about the Mayor’s promise to launch a citywide process within the next month or so, led by outside experts, to improve citizen participation in Raleigh government. The time frame could be as much as 2-3 years.Residents should continue letting elected officials know how valuable CACs are.

The City of Raleigh is in the process of updating the Falls of Neuse Area Plan, which includes the area along Falls of Neuse Road from Durant Road to just north of the Neuse River.

On June 21, the city held a workshop to explore potential land use scenarios at key locations along the corridor. Attendees were asked to consider alternatives and provide feedback on the options. View the presentation from the meeting.

In order to obtain a broad range of input, the city has created an online survey based on the options presented at the workshop. Access the survey, and provide your feedback. Please provide responses by Friday, July 21.

For questions, more information, or to provide your comments via email or phone, please contact Jason Hardin, the project manager for the plan update, at 919-996-2657 or at Jason.Hardin@raleighnc.gov.

Friday, June 23, 2017

Community SCALE wants you to be aware of what’s happened/what’s coming up at City Hall each week.

Please feel free to forward this email. If someone forwarded it to you and you want to be added to our email list, please email communityscale@gmail.com

Week of June 26

Here are some of the events planned for the coming week. It’s always helpful to have community members attend to show interest in these topics, ask questions, etc. If you plan to attend any of these meetings, we’ll be glad to include your meeting summary in future articles.

7pm – Comprehensive Plan Update – Pioneers Building, Method Road Community Park, 514 Method Road: The theme will be transportation, including a vision for future development of the city’s connectivity network for all modes of transportation, public transit systems, greenways, and bicycle and pedestrian networks.

June 17 DDNA (District D Neighborhood Alliance) meeting featured City of Raleigh Right-of-Way Manager Noah Otto discussing small cell phone towers/wireless infrastructure in City right-of-way. Small towers can be between 35-120 feet tall, providing a faster connection than a taller 300 foot tower. Safety, health, and historic overlay would be the only reasons to deny a tower placement, and historic overlay may be removed at the federal level. A model ordinance currently is being worked on, as well as a map for the city website that would show where the small towers are. 45 locations are pending approval; 10 to 20 have been approved.

Friday, June 16, 2017

Community SCALE wants you to be aware of what’s happened/what’s coming up at City Hall each week.

Please feel free to forward this email. If someone forwarded it to you and you want to be added to our email list, please email communityscale@gmail.com

Week of June 19

Here are some of the events planned for the coming week. It’s always helpful to have community members attend to show interest in these topics, ask questions, etc. If you plan to attend any of these meetings, we’ll be glad to include your meeting summary in future articles.

11:30am – City Council Work Session – beginning June 20, the City is switching to paperless agendas

1pm – City Council meeting – beginning June 20, the City is switching to paperless agendas

7pm – Comprehensive Plan Update – Marsh Creek Community Center, 3050 N. New Hope Road: Theme is Development Transitions – as many people continue to move to the region and as interest grows in walkable urban living, Raleigh is beginning to grow up as much as it grows out

June 14 Comprehensive Plan Update meeting on Housing – Terry Snyder reports: I attended the Comprehensive Plan Update meeting on Housing. There was an excellent turnout of residents, many from southeast Raleigh. The only politicians present that I was aware of were Yvonne Holley and Olen Watson. Both of them were vocal during the Question and Answer Session. Both city staff and the audience were very engaged.

The main focus of the discussion was on affordable housing for residents. East Raleigh is experiencing the impact of the market trend to live close to downtown. The big problem is that we can't control market growth and state law limits what cities can do. A number of initiatives are in place to provide more affordable housing addressed by the RCP. Yvonne Holley said that there is no money coming down the pike from the federal government under the current administration.

Some issues that were brought up by the audience were problems with slum landlords, dirty water in one neighborhood, builders preying on older residents to sell under market value, gentrification, building "huge plantation houses in black neighborhoods,” etc.

People in the audience requested that notification for meetings be posted ahead of time and in more visible ways. Both the audience (residents) and city staff agreed that more meetings between them were needed to better address issues related to the impact of growth and development.

Friday, June 9, 2017

Community SCALE wants you to be aware of what’s happened/what’s coming up at City Hall each week.

Please feel free to forward this email. If someone forwarded it to you and you want to be added to our email list, please email communityscale@gmail.com

Week of June 12

Here are some of the events planned for the coming week. It’s always helpful to have community members attend to show interest in these topics, ask questions, etc. If you plan to attend any of these meetings, we’ll be glad to include your meeting summary in future articles.

“Before we start tonight, I do have a few comments that I would like to make. I do want to take a few moments now and acknowledge the concerns that have been circulating in the community regarding the future of the CACs. The CACs have not been disbanded or changed in any way.

I believe every member of this City Council understands and values the important role the CACs have had and continue to play in citizen engagement. I’m very glad that you’re all here tonight.

The CAC Chairs, and those that work through the CACs, are the resource that we need to figure out how to improve citizen engagement in this growing city. I want everyone to know that I am committed to a citizen engagement process that includes everyone. And I mean everyone.

What we’re doing now is starting a community wide discussion on how we better communicate and engage with the public; now that we are a community that is approaching a half a million people. And I apologize that our communication attempts have failed in conveying that message. I know that it has come across as an attempt to disband the CACs, and that is not the intent of this process.

I would like to reiterate that I appreciate the work of the Citizen Engagement Task Force, however, we need to acknowledge that at this time, that those that have been actively involved in citizen engagement through their CACs, feel that their voice has not been heard…and has not had the opportunity to be heard.

So before we move forward, I would like to say ‘let’s pause and take a breath’; it’s more important to get this right than it is to rush through a process that people have concerns about right off the bat. So I would like to suggest that our next step be a Council work session that includes a consultant that will facilitate an open dialogue and help bring a consensus around how we proceed. And how we move forward. I think we can all agree that we do share a common goal and that is ‘how do we improve citizen engagement in Raleigh?’

So thank you all for indulging me in those couple of minutes before we start.”

Following the mayor’s statement, more than 20 individuals spoke in support of CACs and the council chambers were filled to overflowing with CAC supporters.

Welcome

We hope you will visit here often and become involved. By paying attention, working together, and being active in the civic process, we can help preserve the integrity and diversity of our neighborhoods in Raleigh. We work to fulfill this mission by advocating and educating. Our message packet can be found here.

Community SCALE invites you to share information and calls for neighborhood action by participating in this community forum.

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SCALE is working to help inform the citizens of Raleigh about the process for developing the new code and regulations. If you would like to contribute to help us with the costs of printing and mailings, please click here to donate through Paypal.

Protect the Protest Petition in NC - 2013

Online Petition Still Available (2007-2008 comments here)

Raleigh is not alone, battles about teardowns are being waged in towns and cities across the country. This trend toward replacing older stable neighborhoods with newly developed streets of oversized homes will continue unfettered unless action is taken.

Neighborhood changes that are driven by private residents can enhance the community. The future of the inner neighborhoods, and the beauty of Raleigh itself, will suffer as long as speculative market forces are driving the changes. The property rights of ALL residents are equally important. If you are a concerned resident, please lend your voice to the debate by visiting and participating in this petition.

We ask that signers:1. be 18 or older2. include the neighborhood you live in, to demonstrate that this is a problem all over Raleigh - you may do this and still be viewed as anonymous3. be sure to only sign once4. forward this on to your friends and neighbors

Community SCALE of RaleighRaleigh's neighborhood-to-neighborhood connector, where residents keep informed of civic activities affecting their community,and neighborhoods share issues directly across the city. Please join us. Contact us to be added to a mailing list for action alerts and updates.Together we do make a difference.